The military is created not to govern people and manage public affairs but to preserve the sovereignty of the nation.

Self-destructive Rumors

What is this ouster plot rumors that circulated in the press yesterday?

I am appalled at the insensibility of some people who would concoct government destabilization plans against Pres. Noynoy Aquino to advance their personal interest.

Regardless of who is sitting in Malacanang, I am totally against military coup. A military coup is only an option that may be resorted to when the government itself ceased its function to prevent civil war.

Even if you don’t like a leader of our country, there is no acceptable reason to justify military takeover.

The only exception when military takeover was apparently justified was ending the Marcos regime. It was not only justified, it was absolutely necessary in order to restore democracy in the Philippines and put an end to tyranny and cronyism. Other than the Martial Law era, any military takeover in the Philippines is a self-destructive proposition.

Look at what happened to Burma. Before the military took over the Burmese government in 1962, Burma was once a crown jewel of Asia owing to its rich natural resources. But after the military began reigning over the country, everything that followed was self-destruction. Today Burma is one of the poorest countries in the world due to unlimited, unchallenged proportion of corruption within the military government.

We can follow the footstep of Burma if we allow military rule in our country. Any ouster plot must be resisted and protested by every democracy-peace-loving Filipino.

The destabilization plot, however, has been denied by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr., stating that “the military (is) solid behind Aquino.”

"As far as the AFP is concerned, we have not monitored any report of an ouster plot. The AFP is solidly behind the President and Commander-in Chief. As a professional organization, we are focused on fulfillment of mandate to protect people and sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," Burgos was quoted as saying.

I suspect that the opposition group could be behind this disgusting rumor. Maybe they want to “test the waters” whether Pres Aquino still has the support of the military. And if the opposition would find a weakness in Aquino’s administration, they would exploit it to their political advantage.

Or it could be that some military officials want an increase in the military budget, thus the ouster plot rumor was floated. Conspiracy theories suggest that in a country like the Philippines where democracy is still at its infancy stage, some high-ranking officials of the military would use the coup d’etat rumor just to pressure the government to jack up military budget allocation.

In the US, Canada, UK, Australia and Europe where democracy has its solid foundation, ouster plot of government is so unheard of.

Military officials in those countries have fully understood the basic principle of democracy as enshrined in their respective constitutions that the purpose of the military is to protect the sovereignty of the nation against external invasion or any foreign threat of its existence.

The military is created not to govern people and manage public affairs but to preserve the sovereignty of the nation.

This is the very same principle that is enshrined in our 1987 Philippine Constitution. In fact, the President of the country is regarded as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The president, as the representative of the people’s expression of sovereignty, should rule over military might, and not to be overruled by military’s borrowed force, purchased courtesy of people’s taxes.

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